Week 6 football rewind

Drake had never defeated Justin-Siena in an MCAL game until last week.
Tomales learned what it’s like to play a team that is a mirror image of itself.
And Redwood’s Zac Neiman found that success can come with a price.

These thoughts and more are yours if you just keep reading . . .DRAKE’S turnaround from a 1-9 season in 2010 continued Thursday with an impressive victory over Justin-Siena – the only one for Drake against the Braves since Justin-Siena joined the MCAL in 1999.
The Pirates’ 24-7 conquest of the Braves came courtesy of a solid defensive effort and some timely throws by Andrew Brown, who finished with three TD passes and 231 yards through the air as Drake improved to 4-2 overall. Last season, in the Pirates’ 41-14 loss at Justin-Siena (the Braves’ lone victory of the season), Brown completed only 5 of 30 passes for 47 yards with three interceptions.
“I’m actually really excited about how Andrew’s been playing this year,” Drake coach Ethan Hough said. “Looking at his stats this year, he’s got a lot of touchdown passes (10) and minimal interceptions (three), so he’s been working very hard and not making any mistakes to give the other team any opportunities.
“He’s been playing really well, he’s got a lot of confidence and he’s been taking more and more control of the offense as the year has gone along. So I’m pleased with the way he has been performing.”
The performance of Brown – and his teammates – has Drake within one victory of becoming playoff eligible. Hough, however, acknowledged that making the playoffs is no sure thing. Drake’s remaining schedule includes games against Novato, Redwood, Terra Linda and San Marin. All four of those schools also harbor playoff aspirations.
Novato, for instance, is coming off a rout of a Redwood team that pushed Tam to overtime. Tam beat Drake 42-7 this season.
“We haven’t really been able to talk about playoffs because we know with our schedule, our next four opponents are going to be really tough,” Hough said. “We just want to be able to compete against all four of them, and if we can compete against all four of them and make plays, we’re hoping that things fall and we can make the playoffs.
“If not, we’re going to give it our best shot. It’s nice to be within one game, but we know it’s probably going to take two or three (wins to get an NCS berth), and with the opponents we have, it’s no guarantee.”

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TAM, after losing its season opener at St. Patrick/St. Vincent, has rolled off the football team’s first five-game winning streak since at least 2000 in large part because of its defensive play.
The Red-tailed Hawks have now limited their first three MCAL opponents – Redwood, Drake and San Marin – to 14 or fewer points despite twice going to overtime. Thursday, the story of the game was the Tam pass defense which produced six interceptions against San Marin quarterback Tre Changeux. Changeux had thrown just three interceptions on 81 passes in his previous five outings.
Ren Scypion and Haynes Stephens both had two interceptions for the Hawks, part of a defensive effort for which the players deserve the credit more than the coaches do, Tam coach Jon Black said.
“Six, that’s just a lucky day for us and an unlucky day for their quarterback,” Black said. “A few of them were deflections that just kind of bounced the right way. Some of them, we just mixed up our coverage a little bit and I think he probably missed a couple of linebackers dropped back in coverage.
“What we talked about all week was reading the eyes of the quarterback, and that was part of it. But part of it was you just have those games where stuff happens. It was just one of those games. Gosh, if you get two turnovers a game, you’re happy. Six is unparalleled.”
Despite the winning streak, Black said the team is not taking a playoff berth for granted.
“We’re trying to win out,” Black said. “It would be great to have a Tam team be successful. It’s good for MCAL, it’s good for our program. You know, it’s the usual one week at a time. You know, five wins is a .500 record if we end the season will all losses. And that’s what happened to a (Tam) team I think three years ago. So we’re focused on playing to win every game.”

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Tomales’ first game in the North Central League II will be one for the Braves to remember. Facing Upper Lake, Tomales battled to an 8-8 tie through four quarters, with the game officially going down as a tie.
NCL rules specify the teams play overtime to settle a tie – but only to serve as a tiebreaker should the teams have the same league record when the season ends. In this case, the tiebreaker is unlikely to matter since the teams play an NCL II rematch on Oct. 28 at Tomales. It would likely take another regulation tie – with Upper Lake then winning the overtime again – for the tie on Saturday to matter in separating Tomales and Upper Lake in the standings.
Tomales coach Leon Feliciano said the game – which featured nearly identical wing-T offenses on each team – was as close as the score indicates.
“They’re a good team,” Feliciano said of Upper Lake. “But they play the style of football that we’re good at. I mean, it’s just all about styles and we match up pretty well.”
Tomales scored first in the game on a TD pass and two-point conversion on its first possession of the game only to see Upper Lake respond with a 97-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion in the second quarter.
In overtime, Tomales had the ball first – each team gets four downs to score from the opponents’ 10-yard line–but saw its chance to take the lead end when a reverse on fourth down resulted in a tackle on 1-yard line. A fumbled snap during the possession was a setback for the Braves on the possession.
Upper Lake then turned a fourth-and-short into a touchdown on its possession.
“That was a heck of a game, I will say that,” Feliciano said. “It was tight. They had that one big run, 97 yards, that was obviously the biggest play of the game. And for us, we had a beautiful opening drive to score, in fact we scored on a pass. But we gained over 200 yards on the ground and they must have gained over 200 yards on the ground, so there was some movement. But man, when it got fourth-and-short, third-and-short, the defenses came alive on both teams.”

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Redwood’s Zac Neiman has been a kick- and punt-return threat all season, with two kickoff and two punt returns for touchdowns entering the Giants’ game against Novato last Thursday. But the Hornets did not give him many chances to do damage, consistently kicking away from him in their 48-0 victory.
Of Novato’s eight kickoffs, only one went directly to Neiman, who gained 17 yards on that runback. On another, the ball was fielded by Will Gaul, who pitched the ball back to Neiman. That return ended on the Redwood 36.
Novato also punted three times, once sending the ball out of bounds. On the other two punts, Neiman gained 12 yards on one and lost 2 yards on the other.
“I’m hoping that’s not how it is,” Neiman said of the prospect of teams kicking away from him the rest of the season. “I love to be able to run up and down the field. But if teams do continue to do that, we’ll find a way to adjust.”

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Novato QB Dustin Treick had his first two-TD pass game of the season and also his longest run of the year, a 54-yarder, in the Hornets’ win over Redwood.
“He stepped up and he kept his composure,” Novato coach Travis Brackett said of his senior. “He moved his feet and used the time real well and found some guys. I was proud of the way he played. He made some smart decisions.”
Treick targeted five receivers while compleiting 10 of 13 throws for 161 yards.
“That’s the thing about our offense, we don’t have one star on our offense,” Treick said. “We really try to spread the ball around and keep everyone on their toes.”

5 Responses to Week 6 football rewind

what a great season so far for the MCAL – seems teams are much improved. Interesting to see #2, #3 down the stretch. Tam over San Marin was a big upset – 6 picks! Mustangs played great defense, but could not overcome the INT’s. QB is not very tall – so some tipped balls. Heard of transfer student from Texas who was is a QB – will be playing this week vs. TL. NOt sure if he starts yet, but Changeux was leading rusher last year, maybe the sophomore transfer fares better and would be huge upgrade to move Changeux into backfield. Texas QB in marin county! Peleki from NHS may be best two way player in the MCAL. And how about my pirates!! great to see the turnaround. Coaching is so important, glad to have him!! SR continues to struggle and unable to replicate last year’s success. MC seems to just have better kids at every position — but don’t think the defense is what it was…not good enough for state bowl game, but good enough to beat up MCAL foes…MC QB looks great! This is not Coach P’s smashmouth wildcats! Hopefully they go far and represent MCAL! Can the hawks continue the defensive dominance? Can SM rebound? Can NHS follow thru the big redwood win? Down the stretch here and should be a blast!!

TO THE AUTHOR OF THE PREVIOUS COMMENT…Tre Changeux is my son and your comment is not accepted well by me. Every player can and will have a bad game every now and then…”Move Changeux into backfield”?????…Watch your comments, he can read them and it doesn’t help his confidence levels when he is bashed in the paper.

I think TruFballFan did a great job of stating his opinion in a very fare way. Didn’t think he was bashing Changeux at all. Besides, someone playing the high profile position of QB should be able to take a little criticism. It should make them work harder. I assume he heard some negative comments made in the week prior to the TL game and it looks like he had a pretty good game. He said it himself that he worked harder. Gotta let the boys grow up at some point…

I’m with “Baffled”…all the Marin “helicopter” moms should let their boys grow up to be men. Instead of insinuating that this comment could affect his confidence…it rather should be taken as a “motivating” tool to do better. Every player shouldn’t think that they are entitled to a position because of seniority…rather that they earn it each and every week. See also Rex Grossman, Washington Redskins QB, who threw 4 picks yesterday. I don’t think the coach or fans are concerned with his “confidence” level. MAN UP.

We won’t be approving any more responses commenting on this item. I believe we have representative responses and there is no need to pile on. If you have questions contact me at dallen@marinij.com or 382.7206